


The Mother Bough

by SilkenTiger091



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Bren Needs a Hug, Gen, I'm salty there's no halfling original character tag that pops up, Loosely based around actual D&D events, Non Consensual Self Cannibalization, Self Cannibalization, Things will be explained in the notes, Torture, Whipping (Not in a kinky way), tagged as mature just to be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 17:24:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12215418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilkenTiger091/pseuds/SilkenTiger091
Summary: Bren Underhill, a halfling druid, was sent to train with the Cloven Ruler.Things did not go as planned.





	The Mother Bough

**Author's Note:**

> (This is sort of a self indulgent headcanon of mine that came from my overwhelming urge to give Bren a big hug and is not necessarily canon with the events of the actual D&D campaign.)
> 
> Mother Bough = Powerful tree spirit that is responsible for training the original druid in universe.  
> Cloven Ruler/Queen = Half elf/half fae shape shifter who is interested in keeping Bren as her captive forever.

As Bren watched the Cloven Ruler burst into a thousand pieces, the antlered warrior leave with the rest of his company, and the Mother Bough return to her former glory, she swayed on her feet and came crashing down onto the forest floor. Her vision wavered, and the scent of dirt and decaying leaves filled her nostrils. Bren could feel the roots of the Mother Bough around her, and the towering trunk rising into the sky above her. She suddenly felt small and vulnerable, and despite the fact that the Cloven Ruler had fallen not even seconds ago, afraid. She could feel the borrowed power from the Mother Bough draining out of her. Just as she was sure all her power would leave her forever, it stabilized. Bren could feel the second conscience of the Mother Bough reach out to her again. She felt rather than heard the intentions of the Mother Bough.

She wasn’t going to let Bren die.

Bren was too exhausted to cry again, but she tried her best to convey her overwhelming gratitude to the tree. She could feel the power inside her stabilizing. Bren was no longer afraid, but she still felt immensely dwarfed by the much older spirit currently connected to her. She laid there a moment more. While she was not actively dying, she could feel the echoes of pain lance across her back, and she could still taste the hints of her own blood in her mouth. A wave of nausea came over her in that moment as she remembered-

_ The memory seemed strangely distant, as so much had happened in the space of a single day, but the memory of that afternoon was still fresh. Bren felt the rain pour down the open wounds on her back alongside the blood. She was shaking violently from both the rain and the pain. She was cold, and the white tunic she had been wearing was all but ripped to shreds from the treatment she had endured. Bren had lost track of the time. It was nearly impossible to tell how long she had kneeled on top of the platform in the ruined church, enduring the punishment of the Cloven Ruler. The vines still held her in place, and the other ones that had whipped her still danced in the air, covered in her blood. She couldn’t have moved even if she wanted to. As she kneeled there, pain racking her body, a vine snaked under her chin and forced her to look up. _

_ The Cloven Ruler stood there, grinning. They were still the most beautiful person Bren had ever seen, but that didn’t stop her from shutting her eyes and flinching away. She could feel her bright green eyes upon her, watching her with a hunger that disturbed Bren. _

_ “Excellent.” She said. The sound of her voice startled Bren into cracking her eyes open just enough to watch her. She shuddered violently. Before she realized it, she was being lifted into the air. She was brought to the eye level of the Cloven Queen before her bare back was presented to the Queen. Bren felt the Queen’s mouth on her back, and she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Her mind drew a blank as the Queen licked the blood from the open wounds on her back. If she wasn’t in so much pain, Bren would have called it sensual.  _

_ Suddenly, she felt the Queen’s teeth tear into her flesh, right by one of the wounds on her back. Bren could barely comprehend the pain as the piece of flesh was torn from her body. She shuddered with agony, and couldn’t help her scream of pain. Bren was forced to face the Queen as she chewed gleefully on her flesh. _

_ “What did we learn today?” She asked gently. Bren gasped for air, coughing. When she finally got control of her voice, she answered. _

_ “D-Don’t... lie.” _

_ “Yes. And now for the real lesson.” She delicately pulled the chewed chunk of flesh out of her mouth before continuing. Bren barely registered her mouth being forced open, but she reeled back when she saw the Queen approaching her. Despite her struggles, her flesh was pushed into her mouth and her mouth was forced closed. The vines wouldn’t let her open her mouth, and she was forced to savour the taste.  _

_ “Nature… Is cruel.” _

**“Stay with me, little one.”** The Mother Bough’s voice echoed in her head, her conscious connecting to Bren’s more fully. Her voice drew Bren out of the vivid memory. She breathed in deeply and shakily as she tried to calm herself. She felt the Mother Bough’s conscience wrap around hers, and she shuddered.  **“If you allow me, I will help you. I cannot change what the Cloven Queen has done to you, but I can fix it.”**

Bren didn’t know what that meant, but she was too tired to protest. She could feel the Mother Bough’s concern and care fold over her, and that was enough. Breathing in the earthy scent of the forest floor one more time, Bren fell asleep at the roots of the Mother Bough.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thanks for reading! If you got this far and enjoyed it, maybe consider leaving a comment?
> 
> :D


End file.
